Yves Behar's San Francisco studio Fuseproject has redesigned the set-top box, creating a matt black cube for French TV network Canal+ (+ movie).

Fuseproject's Le Cube S is a minimal take on the common household device that turns television signals into content that can be displayed on a screen.

Instead of a standard rectangular case, the studio designed a cube that has limited buttons and incorporates a screen into one of its faces.

Its four controls are located in the centre of textured quadrants on the top of the box.

Disguised on one of the sides, the full-colour 320- by 240-pixel screen can show channel logos and notifications rather than just numbers when the device is powered on.

"In order to maximise aesthetic discretion and fit in the home, we kept the cube a matt black, and made the display invisibly integrated into its surface," said the studio led by Swiss designer Behar, which launched a curved TV mounted on a cube-shaped pedestal earlier this year.

"Its surface hides discreetly behind the matt black colouring of the device itself, seamlessly disappearing when not in use."

The company has worked with Canal+ for eight years, creating a range of set-top boxes including the Le Cube device. The new Le Cube S design is the smallest iteration in the series to date, measuring eight centimetres cubed so it can be held in one hand.

"As technology advances, we are able to consistently bring new innovations to the set-top box, re-imagining its form while still maintaining existing brand equity," said Fuseproject, which was acquired by a Chinese brand management conglomerate last year.

Related content: see more from Yves Behar

The black cube sits on a white stand containing the hard drive, allowing the top part of the device to be kept as small as possible.

The company's white "plus" logo is positioned in the top right corner of the front face.

Behar, who founded Fuseproject in 1999, launched a connected thermostat for UK energy supplier British Gas aimed at ordinary consumers rather than technology lovers last month.

His other recent projects include a collection of office furniture for Herman Miller and a DNA testing machine.